In the Longest Living People On The Earth Part 1, we talked about the healthy people of Iceland. In the Longest Living People Part 2, we talked about the healthy people of Japan. In this blog post, we’ll talk about the healthy people from Finland.
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Super Healthy People of Finland!
Finland was once rated as one of the most unhealthiest people on Earth. Namely, North Karelian, Finland (eastern Finland – bordering Russia). Why?
Before World War II, North Karelians lived off the land. They picked and ate delicious berries. They hunted and ate a variety of wild game. And a variety of fish were available in the 450 lakes that were found throughout North Karelian. Tasty & healthy fish like perch, pike, smelt, salmon,…
After World War II, military veterans were awarded small plots of land. These forested lands were deforested (cleared) to maintain and harvest herds of cows, pigs,… These actions brought on a diet of:
- Fried pork (Yummmmy – BACON!!!!)
- Fried beef
- Meat stew
- Buttered fried potatoes
- Buttered bread
- Milk
- Butter
And this diet started the Finnish people of North Karelian on an unhealthy road to heart disease, cancer,…
In the 1972, the people of North Karelian, Finland, discovered that they had the HIGHEST RATE OF HEART DISEASE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!
- Heart Disease related deaths
- Cancer related deaths
- Other health related problems
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Life expectancy is rising in Finland – unlike in the UK. What’s going right?
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Men from North Karelian, Finland, died 10-years earlier than Finnish men in southern Finland.
So Finland hired a young 27-year old with a medical degree and a master’s in social sciences, to try to solve North Karelian, Finland health problems. His name was Mr. Pekka Puska. Mr. Puska and his small team, in 1972, started a grassroots movement to get the Finnish people to adopt a low-fat and high vegetable diet.
To replace the butter the Finnish people were eating, Finnish scientist came up with a way to grow a rapeseed that would grow in their cold climate.
Finnish housewives were taught how to make delicious meals incorporating vegetables as well as some meat.
By 1977, 05-years later, the overall health of North Karelian, Finland, was already seeing some healthier results:
- 25% reduced heart attack deaths of middle-aged men
- 10% reduced cancer deaths of middle-aged men (mostly from stopping smoking)
- 10% reduced deaths from all types of cancers
After seeing these results, the rest of the Finland population learned from their North Karelian neighbors. Life expectancy of the Finnish people spiked upwards. Life expectancy of Finnish males jumped up at almost 10%.
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Seven Countries Study!
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A research effort, called the Seven Countries Study, examined 12,763 men ages 40 through 59 in the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Serbia, Japan, and the United States.
Ten years after their initial screening, the study reported several important results:
- Mediterranean groups had lower death rates from all causes than the northern European and American groups.
- Lower mortality from coronary heart disease in the Mediterranean countries.
- Men at the peak of their lives (45 years) have longer life expectancies in Greece than in any other European or North American country despite their high tobacco consumption, low exercise level, and modest health-care system.
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The Mediterranean Diet!
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The Mediterranean Diet is based on traditional eating patterns evolving over centuries in Greece, Italy, North Africa, Southern France, Spain and several Middle Eastern nations.
All share a general pattern of cooking and ingredients. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains. The principal fat is olive oil! Lean red meat is eaten only a few times a month and in small portions.
Eating foods from animal sources – namely dairy products, fish, and poultry is low to moderate. Wine is drunk with meals. Plenty of crusty country-style bread is enjoyed with each meal. The major fat used in the Mediterranean Diet is Olive Oil!
Olive oil is primarily a monounsaturated fat, which is noted to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) blood cholesterol and may increase good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) blood cholesterol. Olive oil isn’t the only key to a healthy diet.
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Here are some Mediterranean Eating Tips:
- Olive Oil: Switch to olive oil (extra virgin).
- Butter & Margarine: AVOID butter and margarine. There is nothing wrong with putting olive oil on toast or whole grain bread.
- Meat: Cut meat consumption. If you do eat meat, ensure it’s lean. Try small portions of poultry or fish with plenty of vegetables.
- Fruits & Vegetables: INCREASE fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Whole Grain Bread: Eat plenty of whole grain bread. The darker the better (ingredients not burnt).
- Salads: Eat a salad at the beginning and end of each meal.
- Wine: Wine at each dinner meal. It’s been noted that a couple glasses of wine each day may protect against coronary heart disease. Read about the benefits of red wine below.
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Red Wine For The Heart?
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The French have high-risk diets that are rich in saturated fats, yet their heart disease is 2.5 times LOWER than the United States! WHY? Call it the French Factor or whatever you want.
The French love their red wine like American love carcinogenic nitrate, nitrite filled hot dogs and saturated fat-filled hamburgers. One healthy ingredient in the French diet is a substance called Flavonoids.
Flavonoids are natural compounds found in red wine and in almost all fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids have been noted to help protect against heart disease and possibly cancer!
Good sources of flavonoids are in the peel, pulp, and skin of fruits like oranges and apple’s skin. High levels of flavonoids are found in broccoli, celery, citrus fruit, cranberries, endive, green beans, and onions.
Medium sources of flavonoids are apples, broad beans, grapes, grape juice, lettuce, red wine, tea, red peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, and tomato juice.
According to John Folts, Ph.D., head of the coronary thrombosis research lab at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, “We’re pretty sure it’s the flavonoids that have a clear protective effect.”
WARNING: The French may have a lower rate of heart disease because of their consumption of red wine (flavonoids), but on the other hand, they have a high rate of cirrhosis of the liver. DO NOT abuse alcohol!
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Mr. Pekka Puska’s Health Survey!
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In 1972, Mr. Puska, assemble his small team in the capitol of North Karelia – Joensuu. The small team needed data to see what they were up against.
So they started a survey to collect health data on the people of North Karelia.
Their survey identified:
- The sick (already had heart disease)
- Most likely to get sick (on the road to heart disease)
Mr. Puska and his team identified those of high risk and tried to help them. They followed-up with giving information to North Karelians on how to lower heart disease.
Mr. Puska’s small team the best remedy for hear disease is to AVOID THE FOODS THAT CAUSED HEART DISEASE.
So Puska’s team printed-up leaflets and posters asking North Karelians to:
- EAT LESS FAT
- EAT LESS SALT
- EAT MORE VEGETABLES
But bad eating habits of super tasty pork, beef, salt, butter, is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO BREAK. Plus, the cafeterias, restaurants and supermarkets offer super tasty fat-laden, salt-laden foods.
Mr. Puska consulted with a British epidemiologist (Disease Detective), named Geoffrey Rose. Mr. Rose believed the answer to heart disease was to PREVENT HEART DISEASE ALL TOGETHER rather than trying to cure heart disease after the fact.
In Mr. Rose’s opinion: ‘Hospitals and doctors could no more solve the problem of general ill health than famine relief could solve the problem of world hunger.’
And like the comedian Sam Kinnison said ‘get some U-Hauls and move the hell out of the desert. You can’t grow food in the desert.’
Mr. Rose was the very first to prove the link between heart attack deaths and blood pressure. He demonstrated through his collected data that those who died from heart attacks was directly proportional to the average blood pressure levels of the whole population.
He also demonstrated through his collected data that for every point cholesterol was lowered, heart disease was lowered by 02 points.
Mr. Rose concluded whether you lived a short sickly life or a long healthy life, it was because of the population you lived in. Where you lived, forecasted your sickly or healthy life.
Mr. Puska took the advice of the British epidemiologist and now wanted to change North Karelia’s culture so to AVOID heart disease from the get go.
Mr. Puska had his small team give afternoon ‘Longevity Parties.’ They would form gatherings throughout North Karelia and give short seminars on the link between saturated fat and heart attacks.
Puska’s team handed-out recipe books that were filled with healthy tasty recipes without fat-laden meats and cholesterol-laden foods.
North Karelian recipes of meat and salt were replaced with carrots, potatoes and rutabagas.
Puska’s small team recruited 1,500 people (mostly women), calling them ambassadors. They were given training and an ID card. They were taught the benefits of reducing fat and salt consumption and how to quit smoking.
These 1,500 ambassadors would go out and spread the word. And these 1,500 ambassadors asked their patrons to spread the word of a healthier diet for all Finnish people.
Mr. Puska himself, spoke in churches, clubs, community centers, schools,… Mr. Puska and his small team of preaching started to take a healthy foothold. The Finnish people were listening and taking action.
Mr. Puska then went after the food industry from the producers to the sellers that produced and sold fat-laden foods and salt-laden foods. But why should the food industry change to healthier foods and lose money.
As a matter of fact, the Finnish food industry took out ads bashing Mr. Puska’s years of work. But the food industry’s ads backfired. Now more Finns were alerted to the debate over their current diet linked to heart disease.
Now more Finns were really interested in eating healthy fruits to counter heart disease. But fruits like oranges and melons had to be imported from Europe and were costly.
So Mr. Puska pushed farmers big & small to grow multiple types of berries. The berries were harvested and ate during the late summer months. But what about the rest of the year?
Puska’s team got the food industry to process and freeze fruits for sale and consumption the rest of the year. He even got farmers to use some of their lands dedicated to growing fruits. Now as the berries became available all year round, Finnish people ate more fruits.
In just 05-years, Mr. Puska, his team and 1,500 ambassadors, turned North Karelian, Finland from HIGHEST RATE OF HEART DISEASE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, on their way to being the one of most healthiest people on Earth.
In 1985, Finland learned the great healthy results from Iceland. Iceland had long BANNED ALL CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS throughout their country. So Finland did the same thing. Finland issued a TOTAL 100% BAN ON ALL CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS throughout Finland.
Over the next 40+ years, the people of North Karelian and their Finnish neighbors migrated to a low fat, low salt diet and leaned heavily towards a fruit and vegetable diet. Smoking cigarettes has also dropped like a rock.
The Finnish people are one of the most healthiest and longest living people on Earth. Their rates of heart disease, cancer and other maladies are much lower than most other countries around the world.
Finland went from the HIGHEST RATE OF HEART DISEASE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, to dropping its overall very poor heath rate by a WHOPPING 89%!!!!
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